Monday, June 23, 2008

On Friday, June 13, it seems that Officer Collin Hastey had a full day with only one, somewhat insignificant, incident.

Officer Hastey responded to grocery outlet in reference to a juvenile shoplifter in custody. They said a young Hispanic male attempted to steal beer earlier that day and was run off from the store. He returned and was caught the 2nd time. Officer Hastey judged the boy to be 13 or 14 years old.

A strong odor of alcohol came from the young Hispanic male. He said his name was Miguel Sanchez and was 13. Told that he lived on Fleming Street in an apartment with migrant workers, Officer Hastey transported him there but no one was at the boarding house. Miguel was slurring his speech and could not be understood. Sheriff's Deputy Humberto Dean was requested to translate.

While waiting, an alcohol test on Miguel showed a reading of 0.327 grams, the legal driving limit is .08. They retrieved a notebook from his apartment with phone numbers and began making calls. Miguel told Deputy Dean that his parents left him in Miami with friends and went back to Mexico. He had a brother and uncle in South Carolina, but no local family or guardians.

With the high alcohol, he was transported to the hospital and DFACs was notified. The hospital stated they could not treat him because of no legal consent. DEFACs stated they could not help because of the lack of knowledge of his family situation and lack of foster care in the area.

DEFACs contacted immigration for any information on the boy or his family and were no help. Deputy Dean continued to try to locate family using the notebook of phone numbers and finally talked with an uncle. The uncle stated he was 22 years old from Veracruz, Mexico.

Officers really doubted that because Miguel was only 4'5" tall and weighed 80 lbs. Miguel now said his date of birth was 08-10-93 or 94 or 95.

Miguel was transported back to Fleming Street to canvass the migrant community as they were returning from the fields. Officers located some neighbors that stated Miguel worked for a man named Ventura. Deputy Dean called him and Ventura arrived and recognized Miguel. Dean stated that Miguel was 18 years-old.

Deputy Dean overheard Miguel tell Ventura (in Spanish) that he told police that he was young so he could avoid prosecution. Miguel then begged Ventura to help him lie to the police. Deputy Dean overheard this conversation in Spanish.

Officer Hastey then booked Miguel Sanchez for shoplifting, public drunkenness and obstruction. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) was notified of this incident.